How Will It Hit?
- Thread starter HawaiianEye
- Start date
You have a good eye. I posted a picture of the wrong cue. The cue in the picture is rosewood and ebony.
I will post a picture of the ebony and purple heart cue if I can get my phone to work on here.
Made a change to the cue today...decided to change the wrap from black linen to black leather. After playing in the sauna-like atmosphere in Brian's yesterday, I decided to get something that is a little easier to wipe down and keep clean than my usual linen-wrapped cue.
Wish they would fix the damn A/C in there.
Wish they would fix the damn A/C in there.
The "Midnight Rider" should be done tomorrow. Full splice purple heart into ebony forearm with a black G-10 3/8-10 pin. Here are the latest pictures before a black leather wrap is added.
The second shaft in the pictures is a Meucci Pro that I sent in order to make sure the cue matched up with that shaft.
The weight came out to be 19.4 which is in the range I was shooting for. I was hoping to keep it below 20 ounces.
I'm going to Vegas Sunday, so I am having them hold off on the shipping until next week, so I will be home when it arrives.
The second shaft in the pictures is a Meucci Pro that I sent in order to make sure the cue matched up with that shaft.
The weight came out to be 19.4 which is in the range I was shooting for. I was hoping to keep it below 20 ounces.
I'm going to Vegas Sunday, so I am having them hold off on the shipping until next week, so I will be home when it arrives.
Attachments
The Midnight Rider has arrived. Now the question to be answered is "how will it hit?"
I received the cue today and everything worked out almost exactly as planned.
The cue was built to match my Meucci Pro shaft and it fits the cue perfectly. The additional solid-maple shaft was built to the specs I asked for and it looks to be of very nice quality.
I haven't weighed the cue yet, but it is approximately 19.5 ounces and I was shooting to keep it under 20.
It is fully-spliced and not cored and the dimensions of the butt are very close to dimensions of my Pancerny Titlist that I use as my playing cue. This cue is .828 at the butt joint, 1.03 at the top of the wrap, 1.22 at the bottom of the wrap, and 1.26 at the very end of the butt cap.
The pin is black G-10 and there is no metal in the cue, nor a weight bolt. The balance point is almost identical to what my Titlist is...somewhere around the 18-19 inch point. I haven't measured it yet, but I've balanced both cues on my finger. That is approximately 3 inches above the top of my wrap.
I will post some pictures from my phone, but they aren't the best quality. It is sundown here and the lighting isn't the best and my phone camera isn't the greatest.
I received the cue today and everything worked out almost exactly as planned.
The cue was built to match my Meucci Pro shaft and it fits the cue perfectly. The additional solid-maple shaft was built to the specs I asked for and it looks to be of very nice quality.
I haven't weighed the cue yet, but it is approximately 19.5 ounces and I was shooting to keep it under 20.
It is fully-spliced and not cored and the dimensions of the butt are very close to dimensions of my Pancerny Titlist that I use as my playing cue. This cue is .828 at the butt joint, 1.03 at the top of the wrap, 1.22 at the bottom of the wrap, and 1.26 at the very end of the butt cap.
The pin is black G-10 and there is no metal in the cue, nor a weight bolt. The balance point is almost identical to what my Titlist is...somewhere around the 18-19 inch point. I haven't measured it yet, but I've balanced both cues on my finger. That is approximately 3 inches above the top of my wrap.
I will post some pictures from my phone, but they aren't the best quality. It is sundown here and the lighting isn't the best and my phone camera isn't the greatest.
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I'll let you know after I play with it on Sunday. I'm sure it will play good with the Meucci Pro shaft on it. The Meucci Pro plays well on my McDermott butt, so I know that shaft hits good.
I'm more interested in seeing how the cue will play with the new shaft.
Speaking of that, there is another option that I've never even thought about. The new shaft will fit my McDermott butt...that will be something to try out also.
I played with the cue today at Brian's and it hits really solid. As expected, the maple shaft I ordered hits fairly stiff, but that was what I was looking for. I wanted a hit that would be what a Taiwanese player would like. I went to Taiwan a couple months ago and I'll take this cue the next time I go. I'm not sure that I like the tip though. It is supposedly an Ultra-Skin Soft but it feels and hits hard and is nothing like the soft I'm used to with the G-2. After playing with it again next Sunday, if I still don't like it, I'll have it replaced with a G-2 soft.
With the Meucci Pro shaft on the cue, you can really move the cue ball with ease. The Meucci Pro has a milk dud on it, but I'm going to swap it out with a G-2 also because the tip is worn down and shorter than I'd like. Several people tried the cue and I've already had offers to buy it.
I took it in the Pro shop to weigh it and and it came out 19.5 ounces. A couple of the guys who shot with it said it didn't feel that heavy, The butt is just a hair shy of 16 ounces. The shaft is 3.5 ounces...the same as the Meucci Pro. The balance point of the cue is around the 18-19 inch point.
I don't know if is the G-10 pin or the combination of a bunch of variables, but you can make the cue feel like a tuning fork in your hand if you hold the handle and lightly tap the forearm. You can feel the vibrations from the shaft as they go from the front of the cue all the way down to the butt...even through the leather wrap, though I know it has to be dampening it some.
One of the guys said, "you got a winner with this one".
The ebony and purple heart in this cue are really dark. I like that. The cue butt almost looks like it is black until you are under the lights.
With the Meucci Pro shaft on the cue, you can really move the cue ball with ease. The Meucci Pro has a milk dud on it, but I'm going to swap it out with a G-2 also because the tip is worn down and shorter than I'd like. Several people tried the cue and I've already had offers to buy it.
I took it in the Pro shop to weigh it and and it came out 19.5 ounces. A couple of the guys who shot with it said it didn't feel that heavy, The butt is just a hair shy of 16 ounces. The shaft is 3.5 ounces...the same as the Meucci Pro. The balance point of the cue is around the 18-19 inch point.
I don't know if is the G-10 pin or the combination of a bunch of variables, but you can make the cue feel like a tuning fork in your hand if you hold the handle and lightly tap the forearm. You can feel the vibrations from the shaft as they go from the front of the cue all the way down to the butt...even through the leather wrap, though I know it has to be dampening it some.
One of the guys said, "you got a winner with this one".
The ebony and purple heart in this cue are really dark. I like that. The cue butt almost looks like it is black until you are under the lights.
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I played with this cue for several hours last Sunday, using the shaft that I had made for it (not the Meucci Pro).
The shaft is one of the smoothest and best finished shafts I've seen in a long time.
My normal playing partner didn't show up for some reason, so I spent most of the time playing half table. I put all 15 balls randomly on the rack-end of the table and practiced short shots moving the cue ball around without touching another ball. This shaft and tip control the ball very well.
Originally, I didn't like the Ultraskin Soft tip because it seemed to be "dead" or "non-responsive", but now that it is broken in a bit I'm beginning to like it more and more.
This cue may be the most "resonant" cue I have. I haven't gotten them all out to compare, but I don't recall any of them producing the amount of "vibration" this one does when you tap the side of the shaft or forearm. I mean that in a "good" way. The cue doesn't vibrate or act weird when you mishit, it still sounds and feels solid, but when you tap the shaft or forearm, you can feel the vibrations all the way to the butt end of the cue. It will hold the vibrations for quite a few seconds...kind of like a tuning fork.
I'm not sure if the "resonance" is from the G-10 pin or just the overall composite of the cue's construction.
Another thing I've noticed is that it is extremely easy to draw the ball with this cue. Once again, I don't know if it is the cue, the tip, or the combination of everything.
I've already had offers from others to buy it, but I have no plans to sell it anytime soon. I had it made as an "experiment" and now it turns out to be a "keeper". Now that I know how it reacts with its components and dimensions, I may have another couple made to resell.
Now that all is said and done, I'll say that the cue was made by Schmelke.
I purposely left that out in my opening post because some people are biased and don't consider Schmelke to be a "custom" cue maker or a "top quality" cue. I wanted to find out for myself. That is not the case. EVERYTHING on this cue was "made to my order"...from the tip to the butt bumper. I told them every combination of material to be used, the exact specifications for every dimension...shaft diameter, shaft taper, butt diameter at several points, balance point, over-all weight, etc. and they made it accordingly.
I'll say right now that I don't think you can buy a "custom" cue from anybody in the USA that will give you the product that Schmelke gives you for the price.
And their customer service is TOP NOTCH. From the very beginning, they answered every phone call I made and every e-mail. They readily accepted several changes I made along the way and gave me what I wanted. If you ever deal with them, please ask for Kim. I'm sure that the other personnel are equally customer-service oriented, but she is a sweetheart. I also talked with David Schmelke several times and he always answered every question I had.
For the price you pay for an imported production cue from China, you can get a quality "custom" cue made in the USA by Schmelke.
Try one, you may like it!
The shaft is one of the smoothest and best finished shafts I've seen in a long time.
My normal playing partner didn't show up for some reason, so I spent most of the time playing half table. I put all 15 balls randomly on the rack-end of the table and practiced short shots moving the cue ball around without touching another ball. This shaft and tip control the ball very well.
Originally, I didn't like the Ultraskin Soft tip because it seemed to be "dead" or "non-responsive", but now that it is broken in a bit I'm beginning to like it more and more.
This cue may be the most "resonant" cue I have. I haven't gotten them all out to compare, but I don't recall any of them producing the amount of "vibration" this one does when you tap the side of the shaft or forearm. I mean that in a "good" way. The cue doesn't vibrate or act weird when you mishit, it still sounds and feels solid, but when you tap the shaft or forearm, you can feel the vibrations all the way to the butt end of the cue. It will hold the vibrations for quite a few seconds...kind of like a tuning fork.
I'm not sure if the "resonance" is from the G-10 pin or just the overall composite of the cue's construction.
Another thing I've noticed is that it is extremely easy to draw the ball with this cue. Once again, I don't know if it is the cue, the tip, or the combination of everything.
I've already had offers from others to buy it, but I have no plans to sell it anytime soon. I had it made as an "experiment" and now it turns out to be a "keeper". Now that I know how it reacts with its components and dimensions, I may have another couple made to resell.
Now that all is said and done, I'll say that the cue was made by Schmelke.
I purposely left that out in my opening post because some people are biased and don't consider Schmelke to be a "custom" cue maker or a "top quality" cue. I wanted to find out for myself. That is not the case. EVERYTHING on this cue was "made to my order"...from the tip to the butt bumper. I told them every combination of material to be used, the exact specifications for every dimension...shaft diameter, shaft taper, butt diameter at several points, balance point, over-all weight, etc. and they made it accordingly.
I'll say right now that I don't think you can buy a "custom" cue from anybody in the USA that will give you the product that Schmelke gives you for the price.
And their customer service is TOP NOTCH. From the very beginning, they answered every phone call I made and every e-mail. They readily accepted several changes I made along the way and gave me what I wanted. If you ever deal with them, please ask for Kim. I'm sure that the other personnel are equally customer-service oriented, but she is a sweetheart. I also talked with David Schmelke several times and he always answered every question I had.
For the price you pay for an imported production cue from China, you can get a quality "custom" cue made in the USA by Schmelke.
Try one, you may like it!
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I'm going to make mine
Purpleheart full splice into purpleheart with black veneers, linen phoenlic joints, butt cap, 3/8 by 10 ss pin, flat face joint, 13 mm dense maple shaft conical taper, no ferrule. S.i.b. medium hard tip. Bumperless. It will hit a ton.
Purpleheart full splice into purpleheart with black veneers, linen phoenlic joints, butt cap, 3/8 by 10 ss pin, flat face joint, 13 mm dense maple shaft conical taper, no ferrule. S.i.b. medium hard tip. Bumperless. It will hit a ton.
I'm sure that cue has a maple handle under the wrap and maple under the butt sleeve.
It isn't solid ebony, as in a single piece of wood.
I figure it can be kept at a manageable weight, as long as you aren't wanting something really light.
Q: Did you ever go ahead and have the Ebony forearm cue made?
Sounds like a really unique project.